New study suggests humans are not naturally violent.

I believe at the very least, even if it is somewhere in our natures to be violent and competitive, that we have evolved beyond the outright or
inherent need for violence. Meaning there are alternatives at our disposal, and I believe it is worth the effort to avail ourselves of them, no
matter how great the effort required.

I'm sorry, but I busted out laughing when I saw the title. Only because of the insane contention! Hitler, Stalin, Mao, just to name a few

I think I know where you are coming from. As humans we are capable of both great acts of compassion and hatrerd. In the light of this evidence does it
not maybe mean that the people mentioned above are the result of a social sickness...

Not really, it just means people are mean and cruel. I
would love to think we all care for one another.....but the facts speak for themselves. It's too many negatives versus the positives. Social
sickness???? Well that would explain a lot. Doesn't excuse it though.

The study concerns cooperation vs. antisocial action, and doesn't address our inborn tendency (or lack thereof) toward violence. It still tells me
something Good about my species (I've run across it elsewhere), and I'm glad to see it posted.

That being said...

I invite anyone who thinks that violence comes easily to most humans to attempt to slaughter a chicken for their next dinner. I'd be betting that most
wouldn't be able to follow through, and those that do will either end up tossing their cookies or find themselves unable to eat the chicken once it's
been prepared.

It gets easier through practice, but there's a reason we let other humans do our killing for us- we don't like bloodshed. Those who are able to
accommodate the distress violence triggers have gone through extensive training or cultural conditioning that allows them to do so- training which is
largely focused on overriding their natural aversion.

Originally posted by Eidolon23
The study concerns cooperation vs. antisocial action, and doesn't address our inborn tendency (or lack thereof) toward violence. It still tells me
something Good about my species (I've run across it elsewhere), and I'm glad to see it posted.

That being said...

I invite anyone who thinks that violence comes easily to most humans to attempt to slaughter a chicken for their next dinner. I'd be betting that most
wouldn't be able to follow through, and those that do will either end up tossing their cookies or find themselves unable to eat the chicken once it's
been prepared.

It gets easier through practice, but there's a reason we let other humans do our killing for us- we don't like bloodshed. Those who are able to
accommodate the distress violence triggers have gone through extensive training or cultural conditioning that allows them to do so- training which is
largely focused on overriding their natural aversion.

edit on 6-10-2012 by Eidolon23 because: (no reason given)

Unfortunately, we find it easier to slaughter each other than our chickens. And I thank my chickens. The massacre of mankind is unforgivable.
Murder, Abortion, the death rates are out there, can't deny them. Cultural Conditioning??? Yet another term for bad behavior or "not naturally
violent" Murder rate is in the millions. It's all in how you look at it.

Again we see people distinguishing between acts of hatred/cruelty to our fellow beings and acts of violence.

It is true, as an earlier poster stated, that we in the modern western society have distanced ourselves from the slaughtering of animals for food. But
that's just us, go to a third world country and you'll can see that people who live with their animals have no qualms about lobbing the head off a
chicken or dispatching a pig or a goat, and westerners are deemed squeamish for their revulsion at these acts, but we westerners have no problems
wolfing down the meat when it has been made to look like something it originally didn't. But then again, if starvation was a factor, I believe our
social niceties would fall away rapidly.

I would agree with the general premise that humans naturally are hesitant when it comes to killing other humans, but that is just one level of
violence, and there have been studies that show that a lot of people are reluctant to harm others because of the repercussions that may be incurred
upon themselves. This is an unsavory thing to contemplate. I always think of the violence that was enacted by people on each other in New Orleans
during the aftermath of hurricane Katrina in 2005. Law and order vanished and chaos ensued.

The 'repercussion factor' is where laws came from, and we can see in ancient legal systems that early societies were very concerned about social
harmony in the sense of reimbursing the families of victims and punishing perpetrators. This is where the term 'outlaw' comes from, one who chooses
not to live under the protection of a chieftain(for example) and his set of laws, this person is exempt from said laws, but if wrongs are done upon
him by another he cannot sue for justice. We don't have this option nowadays. But early laws came into existence for a reason, people needed
protection from other people.

Back to violence, as I see it, an act of aggression resulting in damage or harm. It's always been with us. How can you use a spear non-violently?

People that agree that violence is natural to human beings, i just wanna know something, are you suggesting that you will kill, rape and torture
another human being or animal with pleasure? do you honestly believe that if it is in our nature to be violent we should accept it?

Now i know why it is so easy for us to be manipulated, everyone always believes and trusts the worst, but when someone mentions that it is the
opposite of what we were trained to believe, most of you without even thinking about the possibility already disagree.

Mentioning the past does not mean we were not conditioned at that time as well, do most of you believe that our training to be violent and fear of
each other only started recently, so naive. The fact that most of you even think that it is natural to be violent just shows how well their training
works, think about that.

I used to think that people were naturally nice creatures. That humans were born again angels, here to bring light, laughter and popcorn to the world.
I used to believe there was an ever expanding center of joy and happiness where bad and ugly were no longer and that this expansion was bound to
engulf the place I lived whit rainbows and butterflies, shutting off special relativity and stuff in the progress.

Again and again posters in this thread ignore the obvious. We are subjected to years of socialization to control our natural impulses.

You cannot conduct such a study using adults and expect to get accurate results. The only research subjects suitable for such a study are unsocialized
children, Homo sapiens in the raw.

Unsocialized children are animal-like in their behaviors including in their tendencies towards violence. Even young children moderately socialized are
mean creatures. Have people here missed all the media attention given to bullying? Have people here never watched young children at play? They are
vicious when they want something their way.

I realize it's hard for some to admit that at the core of it we are all animals but that's too bad. We are. We crap and bleed and breed like every
other animal on this planet.

We are mean, violent, and intellectually obscene, which makes us lower than animals.

The fact that most of you even think that it is natural to be violent just shows how well their training works, think about that.

I was waiting for this to surface somewhere in this thread

Ok, who is they?

What exactly are you suggesting? Reptilians? Illuminati? HAARP?

Let me go out on a limb here and state that if you believe that somebody or some group has been manipulating humans to be violent for the past few
hundred thousand years then 'out of touch with reality' would be an understatement.

I have never seen a new born baby being violent before it has been revealed to most of the family, technology, toys and media at such a young age, and
because those families did not fight during pregnant months also, only when the new born is able to see, do most of the families give it a toy, i-pod
these days (face palm), or watch TV while the new born is present and i can go on with this list, if you really think about it we become violent
sensitive only after exposure to the corporate world, because that is how they make money, violence and fear.

So bullying is not a good example, at that point that human has already been exposed to violent behaviors, conditioned if you will.

In past cultures the same conditioning took place but with different tools at hand, and like i said, hunting and gathering is in no way Violent.

Let me go out on a limb here and state that if you believe that somebody or some group has been manipulating humans to be violent for the past few
hundred thousand years then 'out of touch with reality' would be an understatement.

edit on 6-10-2012 by seabhac-rua because: (no reason given)

They are children who have not grown out of their conditioning in order to profit their own life's, does not mean they are alien or some ultra
dimensional being, but just really young souls or MINDS, and age has nothing to do with this, just generations after generations of being raised to
run and profit with one means, fear and violence, it does not mean they are violent them self's, but only point the way to do so, taking advantage of
people who are sensitive to manipulation.

This content community relies on user-generated content from our member contributors. The opinions of our members are not those of site ownership who maintains strict editorial agnosticism and simply provides a collaborative venue for free expression.